Past, Present, and Future
by AlistairDante
Summary: It's been ten years since Dante sealed himself off and into the demon world to chase down Argosax. As such, Nero has taken over the shop and the boredom that comes with it. Recently though, Nero has bee having strange dreams, all of which that have to do with Dante in someway, and an enigmatic demon who claims to be bound to him. All of it leads up to the hunters' final dance.
1. Chapter 1: Another day in the life

**WARNING**

This Fic was written to not only bridge all of the DMC media, but to act as an end to the original DMC arc, as CAPCOM has proven they are now incapable of doing anything correctly anymore (What happened to you guys..?). As such, this story takes ideas and elements from things like the anime, manga, and DMC 4 novel in order to build the story. Any questions you have can be answered if need be, just ask :)

This stoy also will have a few lemon chapters but such will be standalone chapters and warned as such to then be skipped by those who would not like to partake in such reading. However, such actions may still be hinted toward in actual chapters, whether they are referring to the aforementioned lemons is up to your inference skills :P

I do not own Devil May Cry nor related products. Such is copyrighted and owned by Capcom. As much as I wished I did own it, I don't have enough quarters to please the mall's wishing well :( Still, I do not gain any profits from writing and publishing this story as it is for entertainment purposes only, thank you.

Please do review it honestly, I want to know what you guys are looking for and what you expect to happen! Any honest critique is valued as well, it's how we writers get better after all~

**WARNING**

Nero couldn't breathe, and what air he could grasp onto was quickly lost from his lungs with a short gasp. The demon in front of him continued to close his hand tighter around the devil hunter's neck, its claws nearly piercing Nero's pale skin. Nero tried his hardest to escape, bashing his dim, grey bringer repeatedly against the devil's wrist to no avail, especially with his strength waning with every second gone by. The more he fought, the tighter the demon's grasp on him became, making sure Nero literally wouldn't be able to draw another breath for as long as he lived as the conflict raged on. The devil's voice was coarse, like rusted metal grinding another piece of metal that was even more corroded, "Interesting… Here you hang, weak before death's open and inviting door, yet you still fight to live… Why is that? What do you have yet to gain? Is it common instinct, like a roach's need to hide from the light, or is it more? It's ambition, courage, the will to fight back for others… Yes."

Nero suddenly fell to the floor, a sharp inhale of air causing him to cough violently while his lungs re-adjusted. Looking up as best as he could, he watched the demon walk away slowly into the surrounding darkness, "My efforts may not have been in vain after all… Nero." Nero watched as the devil disappeared from sight, a sharp pain immediately filling his bringer which made Nero hiss in pain softly.

Sweating, Nero jolted up in his bed, awake and covered in cold slimy sweat. His Devil Bringer glow softly, its ethereal blue aura-like glow illuminating the bedroom enough for Nero to see it was his own. The clock on the nightstand beside him blinked idly, five-thirty three; another two hours until the sun would visibly rise over Capulet City and his day could officially begin. Inhaling, Nero gently coughed and instinctually brought his hand up to rub at his sore throat, it had been only a dream, right? Nero had known better than to take things for what they were and, with a small sigh of annoyance at his unwillingness to sleep again, decided to slide out of bed. It took him a minute to put his dark-blue denim jeans on properly, the dream taking all of his cognitive thought; he couldn't stop wondering what the hell it was, a dream or an actuality.

Heading out of the room and down the hall, to the balcony overlooking the main office space of DevilMayCry, Nero leaned on the railing and looked it over. A month or so back, he had decided to refurbish the office so that it looked more like it had a few years before Dante's journey into the demon world. It was now more open than previously left, now wider and with the bathroom behind the desk again. A bar sat in the rear right corner of the foyer, the door right below Nero leading back into the small kitchen he had installed. The upstairs now had both the master bedroom, but now it also had a guest bedroom and a bathroom as well. Below the stairs Nero walked down the reach the first floor, sat the old red couch from the original office, a smaller speaker set in between the two couches to complete the angle.

When Dante ventured into the Demon World after Argosax, Nero left behind the Fortuna branch to his two partners there and took over the headquarters, the change of ownership clear from the tidy state the office stay in. It had taken years to pay off the debts and loans Dante had left behind but Nero was finally happy to be rid of them now. The old desk Dante used still stay as well, Nero remembering explaining that "it added character to the shop as a whole" to the two female hunters. As he sat behind the desk, Nero took a deep breath and exhaled as a wave of nostalgia rolled over him. He thought about the things the poor desk he sat at had been through, as he ran his fingers lightly along the surface, across the various scuff marks, bullet holes, and the many scratches from wear and tear and some less than pure acts between he and the red-clad hunter before he had disappeared.

This was a usual morning ritual for him, leading to him to look toward the picture on his right: The picture of Eva had been replaced with a picture of the whole gang, shortly after the Savior incident on Fortuna Island. Nero couldn't help but smirk and finally laugh softly as he thought of the past and how drastically meeting Dante had changed his life. His was Naïve then, only around nineteen or so when Dante had come crashing into his world, literally. He remembered how fluidly Dante moved, how easily he dodged all of Nero's attacks with grace. Nero even blushed as he remembered biting one of Dante's guns then too and the excitement that traveled through his spine at that moment. That was a long time ago though, fifteen or so years in the past, and Nero was smarter now and a bit more mature most of the time.

Letting his daydream continue to exist as just that, Nero stood and head back into the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on, he would need it after so little sleep. As he stood in front of the coffee machine and waited for it to fill, he find himself thinking of Dante again. This happened often as he thought of the abuse his poor desk had suffered at their hands and claws. There were times Dante would DT or use Doppelganger and it drove Nero insane. Suddenly thinking of Dante in his demon form brought him back to his earlier dream, Nero again instinctually rubbing his neck.

Interrupting his thinking, the front door suddenly opened and closed, a woman calling out to Nero. He shook his head free of the thoughts and walked back in to see Patty, wearing a pink hoodie and black jeans. She wasn't the young girl she used to be anymore, not only in age but in innocence. The stance she stood in was solid, her face clear of any indecision or over-thinking. She had been training under Lady since she had turned 18 and it changed her a lot. The only part that hadn't changed was her OCD, constantly commenting on how much she liked Nero's cleanliness compared to Dante's.

Nero waved to her and smiled, "Hey stranger, what's up?"

"Nothing much, the usual demon problems here and there, I'm almost wishing for something major to happen so business booms."

Nero nodded and laughed, "I hear ya, I have coffee on if you want some."

"Coffee, really, you know I only drink green jasmine tea with…" This caused Nero to laugh a bit more; maybe she hadn't really changed at all…

Nero sat at the desk as Patty sat on a stool at the bar, both watching the T.V. on adjacent corner to the bar. After a minute of watching the news, she turned the Nero and placed her cup of tea on the bar, "So… Still no word on him?"

Nero shook his head with a sigh in response; this had become a bi-weekly ordeal with the two of them. Everyone hoped that one day, Dante would magically appear before them perfectly healthy and home to stay, yet they all knew it was highly unlikely. Every time she came, her cheerful face would progress into one of sadness and lost mirth; it tore at Nero's heartstrings to see it all unfold before him. He wished he could bring Dante back but no one was blaming him for not being able to. He, after all, was just as hurt by his sudden leave with no "good-bye" as anyone else if not more, so he knew how she felt.

Over the hour, they talked about recent jobs and things that had happened recently to them personally, however the time came where Patty felt her stay was overworn and, after bidding her farewells, left Nero to his lonesome. The office was now quiet again, save for the news playing on the T.V. above him. Switching it off and turning the stereo system wired throughout the office on, Nero pushed the play button and lazily rolled the volume knob with his bringer as he passed the main hub, increasing the volume to nearly full as music began to play and now filled every inch of airspace with loud guitars, "… Sporadic doom, as knights loom. Does clergy support this action; pure wrath of the winged assassin…"

Walking under the stairs and past the couch, Nero unlocked a steel door and opened it, flipping about five light switches before continuing inside. Large overhanging lights turned on as he stepped in, eventually passing him and lighting up the large, warehouse-like space around him. Before him were rows upon rows of shelves, each up to his head in height and adorned with Devil Arms and various guns. Spears, bows, swords, lances, maces, Nero had almost every weapon known to man in the form of a Devil Arm, and even those unknown by any mortal being. He would throw the occasional greeting to some of the devil arms, getting a, "Greetings, master," from Agni and Rudra as he passed. After checking through the storeroom of weapons, Nero head back, locked the door once more, and lay down on the couch with a sigh of extreme boredom.

As Patty had pointed out, Jobs were as thin as ever, some weeks being good but most being slow and devoid of any work. Three hours into the waking work day and there weren't any calls, so it seemed more and more like today was going to be another one of those days. Laying his head back down on the couch pillow below him, he flexed his bringer and yawned. After such rough sleep the night before, Nero wasn't about to say no to a small nap, and yawned as he got comfortable on the leather couch. Stretching his arms out with a soft groan, Nero lay face up on the couch and looked at the ceiling fan in the middle of the foyer, slowly spinning. Soon, the loud music next to him and his vision faded out into nothingness as the void of sleep overtook him.

Nero opened his eyes and immediately found himself standing at the edge of an enormous tower, overlooking the devastated city below him. He was wearing his boots and jeans, leaving his bare chest to be damp from the rain that pelted the tower and himself. Even stranger, Nero found himself holding Yamato in his bringer's tight grasp, _How did I get here... Where is here?_

Nero turned around when he heard the sound of wet footsteps behind him, his eyes widening as the person that approached him became more and more visible up the stairs to him. It was unmistakably Dante, his white hair and signature red coat a dead giveaway. However, to Nero, he appeared much younger than when Nero last saw, even younger than when he had first seen Dante actually. As Dante climbed the final step and was on level with Nero, he sighed, obviously debating a lot internally. He moved in a restricted sort of way, as if he didn't know what to do. With an exasperated sigh, Dante finally shrugged and continue to sort-of pace in circles, "You sure know how to throw a party; no drinks, no food, and the only babe just left."

"Dante, are you okay? What is this?"

"Whatever, at any rate, it's been nearly a year since we last met. How about a kiss from your little brother, or better yet, how about a kiss from this?"

Nero felt every muscle in his body tense tightly as Dante whirled Ivory around and pointed it straight at him, aimed directly between Nero's eyes. Nero's heartbeat filled his own ears, racing quickly in a mix of confusion and fear as he stood still and frozen.

"So this is what they call a heart-warming family reunion?"

"Dante!"

Nero had to quickly slide Yamato upward, grinding the blade against Rebellion as Dante streaked past him. As Dante continued to attack him, Nero found that his swordmanship, while spot-on, wasn't as fluid as he was last time their blades met in conflict, and Nero knew Dante was playing with him then. Here, Dante was obviously holding back, but Nero couldn't guage how much as he was only playing a defensive role. As soon as Nero got cocky however, Dante reached behind his back, whipping out a light blue weapon that he spun around, nunchuk- style. Nero knew it as Cereberus, Dante metioning that he had gotten it a long time ago on an old mission he had gone on before opening DevilMayCry. Never having faced an opponent with said weapon though, Nero was taken aback when Dante began whippping it around at him, the nunchuks close to hitting Nero's face and body multiple times.

Nero, needing his comfort space, began to slash away with Yamato, surprising Dante with his sudden change. With a smirk, Dante replaced the Frozen nunchuks and drew the two other blades on his back, "Look brother, I told you he would use us!"

"Indeed you did!"

Dante smacked both pommels together harshely, shutting the demon swords up before rushing at Nero with a flurry of swings, which Nero deftly avoided with Table hoper before countering with his own slash, cutting Dante's right arm. Dante growled and moved close again, Nero's current position forcing him to butt Dante back with the butt of Yamato. Losing patience, Dante drew Ivory once more and shhot off a few rounds at Nero which, thanks to nothing but pure and instant instinct, Nero managed to block with Yamato, causing each bullet to split and fly past. Dante panted, xhausted as his clothes began to weigh him down, Nero bogged nearly the same and thankful he didn't have his heavy denim coat.

"Father? I don't have a father, I just don't like you, that's all," Dante spoke, Nero ignoring it as it didn't really make sense to him. Dante then drew Rebellion once more and dashed toward Nero, causing the two to lock blades again once more. As both blades ground against one another, the metal began to glow a deep hot orange, before Nero spun around Dante and slashed diagonally to the right with Yamato, feeling flesh and fabric tear under its cold, savage bite. Not knowing why, Nero turned and watched as Dante fell, reaching out and grabbing the silver chained amulet hanging around the demon layer's neck as the hunter hit the water-logged ground with a splash and a dull thud. His blood mixed slowly into the water surrounding them. Nero stared into the red gem he held now in his hand, it shined softly in the bright full moon's light that stood proud above him.

Finally out of his trance-like state, Nero dropped Yamato and backed away from Dante's motionless body, panting softly. Looking away from the body, Nero was surprised to see that the area around him had suddenly been swallowed by darkness, neither Yamato or the amulet in either of his hands. Turning behind him, Nero found himself standing before the demon he had dreamt of earlier, quickly using table hopper to increase their distance. It spoke, same as before, however this time, calmly strode to Nero, "You do not lack the ability to kill, yet you had indeed held back... I believe I am done with you for now, further examination must be done in person..."

Nero quickly growled, his posture tightening as he stepped forward, "Just wait a damn minute, who the hell are you?"

The demon stopped a moment before continuing to walk past Nero, "The one who will surpass that which you see as god..."

Nero stood, dumbfounded at the demon's words and let him disappear into the shadows once more, racking his brain for answers. Nero wasn't the religious type so what god could he be referring to? As he felt himself fall back into a familiar warm darkness of his own, Nero could have sworn he heard Dante calling out to him, "Nero... Nero!"


	2. Chapter 2: Ultra Violet

Nero jolted awake suddenly, panting much like he had earlier that morning, and gripped his slightly burning bringer. Catching his breath, Nero felt someone else in the room with him and looked over to find his instinct was right, "Trish..."

"Hey, look who decided to finally wake up, I tried waking you awhile back but you were dead set on going through whatever dream you had there. Are you okay?"

Nero thought a moment: was he really okay? The entire ordeal felt too real to him, the soaking rain covering him completely, the cold wind biting his bare chest and the cold lash of Rebellion against him all remained, or at least the feelings did. After a couple seconds of thought, Nero nodded and groaned as he slid upright into a sitting position. "When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago, got a job you might be interested in, hon."

"That's out of character, you asking for help. What kind of job are we talking about here, Trish?"

Trish turned the desk chair so she now completely faced Nero and tossed him a folder, the contents spilling outward, fanning out almost perfectly on the table, "There's this small town, about a day's drive out of our 'wonderful' city here, that's been having people go missing left, right, and center over the past few months."

"So why does this concern us, as hunters?"

Trish laughed, "You sound like him already, must come with the office," she smiled and flashed him a trademark smirk of hers, "isn't the fun finding out? Come on, we'll take my car."

Nero furrowed his brow for a moment as he got up and grabbed a black shirt from the back of the couch and a box of playing cards from the table, "You have a car now? God, you are getting old."

"Hey, if anything, I don't look a day over twelve-thousand!"

"Demons..." Nero scoffed playfully as he pocketed the cards and slung Lucifer onto his back, it's eyes looking as if they peered into his soul when he picked it up. Following Trish into the black convertible parked in front of the shop, Nero sat back against the passenger seat and began to shuffle the playing cards he had picked up.

The door to DevilmayCry was unlocked, which would make the job much easier for him. Wary of being cocky, he slowly closed the main door behind him and looked over the office before him. He listened for a moment, completely still before purposefully and methodically striding through the office, his boots softly thumping against the hardwood floor. As he passed the desk, the framed picture caught his eye and, against better judgment, he picked it up to look it over. Lady and Trish smiled and waved, Dante grinning childishly as he held Nero in a hold, Nero also laughing as he gripped the older hunter's coat with his bringer to stop him.

Getting back on track, he placed the picture back down onto the old desk and turned back to it's original position before heading for the door under the stairs. Letting out a low growl at the deadbolt and padlock the door was secured with, he looked around the office for something he could use to break them. Puling one of the display swords off of the wall, he quickly slashed downward, cutting the padlock itself in half and rending the bolt from its hold on both the door and wall. Putting the sword back on it's display, he slowly strode into the dark room, not needing light to find what he searched for.

The sun was setting by the time Nero and Trish reached the small town, the evening sky painted a mix of deep oranges and royal purples. Trish wore the perfect amulet around her neck, having sheathed Force Edge onto her back in an effort to hide it's true power and the fact that she carried Sparda's sword. Nero had long ago pocketed the cards once more and now followed her empty handed. She led him into city hall, where the Mayor met with them and explained the situation. As he spoke, Nero hung on each word, looking as if he weren't listening at all, "... Few months ago when it all first began, the disappearances. It wasn't until recently that we found the same people walking around again as if in a trance and with no memory of ever disappearing. I know it isn't much to go on, but I understand that investigating is still part of the job. I have already told the police to stand by and let you do your thing, but please, do try to be neat about it, I have a reputation to hold."

Nero walked with Trish back to the car and opened the trunk, pulling Lucifer out once more and slinging it onto his back, feeling the cold chill go through his spine as it attuned to his demonic aura. As he closed the Trunk, Trish holstered her guns and looked to him, "So where do we start?"

"Could be just as simple as possessions, however there is something he definitely isn't telling us."

"Like what?"

Nero quickly spun, throwing a thorn from one of Lucifer's wings into one of the people walking past and impaling them into a wall. Blood poured out from around the large, stone-like sword now taking residence in the civilian's stomach. He coughed violently and stared down at his wound in shocked confusion, ragged gasps of breath mixed with blood escaping his mouth. Trish looked on in almost as much shock at the victim, pointing Umbra at Nero, "Nero! What are you-"

"Watch," was all Nero said as the thorn exploded, the person turning into sand which fell to the ground and was sent flying a few feet in each direction. Trish suddenly understood and redirected her aim as all of the nearby people turned to look at the hunters, their jaws all unhinging and growing twice as large as fingers turned into sharp claws of bone. "He spun a good tale, but my bringer was going crazy the whole time. I'm surprised you didn't notice until now, you must actually be getting old."

Trish muttered something sarcastic in response, knowing that she screwed up and not needing an 'I told you so'. Nero stood still like a statue, hands ready to whip out thorns as needed when one of the demons rushed forward, Trish wasting no time and quickly shooting it a few times in the chest, the demon promptly turning to sand like the first.

Nero, noticing them all now begin to swarm them like flies to crap, Quickly grasped three sets of four thorns, quickly clapping his hands and forming and rotating ring around he and Trish. As the swords revolved around the two, they began to spin vertically on their own axis, gaining momentum and speed until being launched outward, spearing all of the nearby demons. Each subsequent explosion sent more sand into the air, stinging Nero's light skin as it exploded outward. Behind him, he could hear Trish now using Force Edge and round trip, the sword spinning as it sliced through a few more demons.

Deciding this wasn't enough, Nero clapped his hands again, summoning the thorns that hadn't yet exploded and created a barrier of spikes around himself before pulling the cards out again. Trish scoffed as she fired into the large sand-cloud, her shots imbued with her natural lightning abilities, "What are you going to do, play poker with them?!"

Nero grinned cockily and shuffled the cards quickly, pulling five from the deck of fifty-two, "Sure~"

Lady sighed as she opened the doors to DevilMayCry, finding tat Nero had once again forgotten to lock them. The shop looked fine from where she stood, yet she couldn't help but want to give the place a walk-through, just to be sure. She pulled Kalina Ann from it's place on her back and set it onto the desk, drawing a pistol and silently making her way over to the stairs. The upstairs was clear, with nothing noticeably out of place in her opinion. Going back downstairs, she sighed in relief when she found the kitchen also clear, and holstered the pistol once more. As she ran a hand through her hair and exited the kitchen, she finally noticed the Devil Arm door forced open, the blood barrier on it also broken. Cursing repeatedly, she quickly pulled out her phone and speed-dialed Nero, hoping he had only lost the key and broke in himself. As she paced back and forth in the office, she could just make out a figure in the peripheral of her vision, quickly looking to the door to see it close. Running outside, Lady quickly drew her pistol again and cursed loudly at the lack of anyone outside, "Shit..."

Nero laughed as he threw each of the five cards, having them stick to the demons outside his spiked barrier, "Sorry, but that there is a full house," He then shuffled the cards once more before snapping, the cards that were stuck to demons exploding and tearing them to pieces, "and it was smart of you guys to fold. Besides, I prefer fifty-two pick-up myself!" Nero then tossed the once again full deck up into the air, the cards rapidly descending and tagging a demon each before exploding and filling the street with a dense cloud of sand, making him cover is dull-burning eyes.

When the cloud finally cleared away, Nero smiled and wiped the sand from his face, "Those were my father's cards, too." He joked as he pulled the package out of his pocket, happy seeing it was once again filled with cards. Looking over at Trish, he smiled more seeing she was alright and seemingly unharmed, "You doing alright there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've got sand in places I didn't know could have sand, but aside I'm perfectly fine. New Devil Arm?"

Nero smiled, "Yeah, got it a couple jobs back from a lesser guardian that ran this whole gambling ring with the mafia, I call it 52, thought it was a suiting name."

"Right, 52... So what now?"

Looking down at his glowing Bringer, Nero looked down the street and saw the mayor standing on the dividing line between the lanes. He grinned darkly and slowly clapped as he approached, "Not bad, not bad at all, considering those homunculi were actually created with some effort on my master's part."

"Who would that be then? Nero asked, slowly drawing a thorn from Lucifer.

The mayor's grin grew even more as a dark energy swallowed him from the ground up, dissipating just as fast as it appeared and revealed his true form. He wore a large suit of armor, dark with lines of energy constantly shimmering through a spectrum of colors along his limbs. In his hands now manifested a large zweihander, looking like a mix between stone and organic matter like his armor. Trish fired off both of her guns, the bullets bouncing off of the demon's armor. Nero cursed lightly, he looked like the Angelos from Fortuna but... This was different, this guy was much stronger than any possessed armor he had ever faced, as Trisha's shots would have torn him apart. Nero quickly blocked an attack by the demon with his Bringer, the force actually causing him to kneel some, before picking it up, slamming it to into a nearby building before slamming him into the ground.

Nero fist pumped and drew a few thorns before launching them at the demon and watching it as the three thorns impaled it through it's dark armor, the following explosions ripping a few small holes in it's armor with no reaction from it as to any pain or hindrance.

Nero growled as he sidestepped another slash with table-hopper and tossed a couple thorns at the demon, which he countered with light blue swords materialized from thin air, both shattering on impact with the other. 52 had much of the same issue, where the cards would stick, but any damage done wasn't obvious as it barely slowed down the demonic knight. Trish became pre-occupied with a few homunculus, not seeing one that managed to sneak behind her and managed to knock her out, leaving her slumped in a sitting position against the wall. Nero could sense she was still living and, after using Lucifer to create a barrier around her, suddenly found his options were limited. If he wanted to keep her safe, he couldn't use Lucifer...

Nero needed to level the playing field somehow, and found that he was in another situation where he wished Red Queen hadn't been destroyed during his time inside the Savior. Resorting to what he had to, Nero rolled over to Trish and tore the Perfect amulet from her chest, rolling again and picking up Force Edge in his Bringer as well. In a large flash of energy, Nero now held Sparda, and found himself distracted by it. He had held it once for a short while during the Savior incident, but he had never actually used it and connected to it like he did now. He could feel the hot, lead-like power flowing through his bringer and through his veins throughout his whole body.

Shaking his head and adopting a defensive stance, Nero regained his bearings and blocked another strike from the knight before countering with his own, the blade turning into a scythe and leaving a deep gash in the demon's torso. Cursing, Nero began to slash at him with what scythe techniques he could make up on the spot, just to have it revert back to it's sword mode. Growling, Nero tightened his grip on it, as if affirming his dominance, "Stop." Quickly thrusting the sword forward, it elongated into a large spear, piercing the demon's armor before quickly shortening back into a sword again, fluorescent blue blood poured from the now open wound, causing the thing to kneel with a grunt.

Nero continued his assault, quickly streaking forward and throwing Sparda. As if reading his mind, it turned into a scythe and began rapidly spinning around the knight, rapidly slashing away at multiple points on his body. With a growl, the demon staggered backward and put his hand out, grabbing the scythe in mid spin and throwing it to the floor at Nero's feet. With a chuckle, the knight quickly disappeared in a flash of violet light, disappearing into the now night sky.

Panting, Nero forced his will onto the blade once more, eventually tearing the perfect amulet from it and turning it back into Force Edge, the flow of power within him suddenly retreating back into the blade and leaving him on his own knees exhausted. Seeing Trish still in her state of shock, Nero groaned and picked her up, gently laying her down in the back seat before getting in the drivers seat and turning the key in the ignition. Hearing his phone go off, he looked to see the large number of messages he missed from Lady. Knowing something had to be utterly wrong, he quickly drove off.

Nero quickly kicked the doors to the office open and carried Trish inside before laying her onto the couch. Immediately upon entering, Lady began to spam him with questions and whatnot, following him as he put Trish down and made sure she was OK, "Lady, shush, slow it down, and replay it."

"Someone broke into the Devil Arm vault while you were gone."

Nero looked over at the door, "I can see that, thanks. The barrier there would stop-"

"The barrier is broken Nero! Not to mention multiple Devil Arms are now missing too!"

Nero cursed and tried to calm the mass amount of confusion rolling around in his head, "OK... How many are we talking here?"

"I don't know... Maybe five or so?"

Nero took a long look at the broken vault door for a long minute before sighing and punching the ground next to him with his human hand, the pain radiating up his arm distracting him from all of the confusion in his head. "Listen, she was taken down by surprise, and you know more medical stuff than I do so..."

"I got it Nero, sorry to spring this on you suddenly."

"It's not your fault... Should have learned to lock the doors anyhow, just take care of her."

"What about you, kid? You look like you've had a rough day."

"I'm gonna have a quick shower and head to bed for the night. You're welcome to stay in the guest room if you want to."

"Thanks..."

Nero stood up, stretching his back with a soft groan before heading up the stairs and into the bathroom. Stripping his clothes off, he turned the shower on full blast and stepped into the freezing rain of water. The chills it sent up his spine helped him to relax and think about things a bit more clearly. Holding his bringer up, he watched as it glow dimly, filling the dark bathroom with a light blue glow. When he had grabbed Sparda, it had flashed red... "You never cease to surprise me, do you..?"

Exhaustion was creeping up on him fast, he hadn't realized how dependent he would become on Sparda's energy so quickly. Yawning, he collapsed onto his bed and sighed, "Another job, and again no payment... How did you do it Dante..."

Anthony walked into the ghost town, carrying his bag over his shoulder as he walked through. The ground was littered in sand and blackened scorch marks on the walls. Fixing his hood further over his face, he continued to walk through the long deserted town, almost to his destination. Hearing a growl behind him, Anthony saw what looked like a person stuck under rubble. When he crouched to help them, he quickly jumped back when it tore itself free and took on a more demonic appearance. With a solemn sigh, Anthony raised his leg up and thrust it down, forcing his bot through the demon's skull. As it faded down into dust, Anthony re-slung his bag on his shoulder and continued West toward what people like to call, "The City of Sin."


	3. Chapter 3: Dark Slayer

Nero groaned, still feeling a bit exhausted from the previous day. His body was stiff as he stretched, a few of his joints cracking and others popping. Reaching up to rub the sleep that had accumulated on his eyes, Nero began to suspect something was wrong. With his eyes finally opened, he immediately knew why.

Cursing under his breath, Nero slipped the regal, soft blue covers from the bed he occupied, standing up on the wooden floor. Behind him, a large window overlooking a wonderful garden stood tall and proud, almost as if showing off the beauty of the various flowers below. The bed he had risen from

was a small bed, the blue silk covers now a mess from his quick exit. Looking at it, he discovered another problem. Now Nero was a bit smaller, a bit being no more than, say, 3 or so feet; the size of a child around 10 years old...

Moving to the desk on the opposite wall from the bed, Nero began to look through the orderly piece of furniture, different books filled with languages he didn't even know existed sat in stacks; only one open on the desk in some glyphic language. Checking the bed once more, he finally noticed a corner of a book hiding under his pillow. The cover was pure leather, it's blue much like the bed it was hidden on, with a single word on the front. It shined softly in the window's sunlight, it's gold foil bright. The name on the cover was the only thing intelligible to Nero, the rest of the book in much of the same language as the one on the desk. Looking back at the cover, his heart began to somewhat sink, a small sense of dread filling him as he gently spoke it, "Vergil..." The name felt familiar to him, but in what way, Nero couldn't figure out. Wherever he knew the name from, he couldn't remember the significance of it.

"Hey!" Nero jumped slightly, fumbling the book in his hands for a few seconds, luckily catching it and turning to face the source of the voice. A boy, looking to be the same age, stood in the doorway. His hair was snow white like his, and he wore black jeans with a red T-shirt.

"Writing in that book again, Verge? How can anyone read your deepest darkest secrets when the only way you write in that diary of yours is Daemon?"

Nero shrugged, "I wish I knew..."

"You feeling OK there, bookworm? Usually by now, you would be summoning daggers or something at me."

Nero's head was spinning, his brain struggling to understand the current events taking place in front of him and around him. Deciding the best thing to do, and the only real thing he could do, would be to play along. Bringing his hand up, Nero then threw the book at the other boy, causing him to run off laughing down the hall outside, "Better hurry up! Mom made a cake for us!" With a sigh, Nero picked the book back up and, after another look-over, he placed it back under the pillow. Looking at his current choice of pajamas, Nero decided he should probably change before leaving the room. Opening his dresser, Nero changed into what he felt comfortable in from what was available. Now wearing a pair of black slacks, a black shirt with a blue button-up over it, Nero left the bedroom and looked out into the hallway. Left, then right, then left again, before heading in the direction he assumed the "cake" was in.

Trish moaned softly in discomfort as she slowly sat up, placing one hand on her back and the other on her head. She was on the couch in the foyer of Devil May Cry. Remembering the battle she went to stand up, halted by a sharp pain in her head. Her groan woke Lady up, who had fallen asleep at the desk .

"Hey, looks who's finally up! Don't worry you're good. You should probably grab some more rest though, it's late and Nero is still asleep."

Trish relaxed, happy everyone was safe, and lay back down, mentally complaining that she had been put on the more cramped of the two couches below the stairs.

Finding his way through the maze of a mansion proved to be a bit more of a challenge for Nero, who had never been inside the building. Eventually, he found his way to the dining room, taking a seat across from the other child and turning to the woman next to them, sitting at one end of the table. Nero immediately wanted to ask her what was going on and how he got here, but as she spoke, he suddenly realized the blonde woman in front of him was indeed not Trish, "Are you OK Vergil? You look a bit sick..."

"I'm fine, Tri-uh-Mom," Nero quickly caught himself. Things were starting to add up a bit in his head, the boy across from him most likely Dante and the woman claiming to be his mother had to have been no one else but, "Eva..."

So far, Nero had pieced together that he was indeed living through different points in Dante's life, however he couldn't understand the role he played in them. Who was he supposed to be? Dante never really spoke to Nero about his brother, the only time that could come to mind being during the Savior incident: "I'm here for the sword... It was originally my brother's..." As the dining room doors were opened once more, Nero suddenly came across another realization, thinking of the Savior. If he was indeed living life beside Dante as a child, then he would mostly likely see... _HIM_.

All the time he spent in Fortuna, he had been raised with all of these stories and writings about the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, but now... Now he could see him face to face. The man he once thought of as a legend, was standing right in front of him, flesh and blood. Sparda stood with pride, his shoulders broad and posture straight. His pure white hair was slicked completely back. He wore a white dress shirt and a pair of dark, royal purple jeans. His blue eyes scanned the room, burning enthusiastically and filling Nero with a calm happiness.

"Hey! How are my two birthday boys today?"

Dante responded with an ecstatic, "great," whereas Nero just managed to nod, not knowing fully well how to react to what he once knew as a god. He continued to watch as Sparda pulled out his chair and sat at the head of the table, looking over his family with a beaming smile of perfect teeth.

"Vergil, are you alright?"

Dante scoffed, "he's been acting weird all morning... I think he's broken."

Sparda laughed and rested his head upon his knuckles, "well, I sure hope not. It isn't everyday you turn 8! Especially with the gifts I have!"

"Speaking of," Eva spoke softly still, smiling as well as she leaned below the table and rose with two boxes, both gift-wrapped in red and blue. Dante, quick as ever, immediately pointed to the one adorned in red paper, "That one!" Rolling his eyes, Nero picked up the one left to him, thanking his mother before beginning to unwrap it slowly. As he did so and opened the box, his eyes suddenly widened when he realized what it was. Now in his hand, was a half of the perfect amulet, it's chain and base metal a true gold. Dante's was very similar, the only true difference being his was silver.

"Those were a gift from your father to I, and now, I am giving them to you my sons. They are extremely special, so guard them closely, understand?"

With no snappy remarks from Dante, both boys nodded, knowing their mother was serious. Sparda's gift was to be given after breakfast, which was laid out before them on the table. Pancakes, toast, bacon, ham, sausage, eggs, and grits were all available and plentiful. Dream or not, Nero's mouth watered during the wait, now moaning in bliss with every mouthful. As he ate and listened in on the family's conversations, Nero wondered if Dante ever missed this. He most likely knew the answer, but it helped him to focus and not let the world distract him. Usually he would have seen Dante with his cocky smile and his sometimes drunken grin, but this was the first time he ever saw him completely happy. It nearly pained Nero to know that something terrible was to come, just not knowing when or how.

After the wonderful breakfast, Sparda led both boys outside and into the garden for his gift. Straw petals occasionally blew past, a wonderful dance of many colors in the light breeze. Standing in front of the garden's center fountain, the boys watched as their father knelt and put a hand on their right shoulders.

"Now your mother fought me tooth and nail over this, but finally, she agreed that the two of you receive these. After years of training you, I leave these two to you, my sons." Moving to the side, Sparda revealed two bundles of cloth, for Dante and he, red and blue respectively. Both obviously Rebellion and Yamato to Nero, he slowly stepped up to it and grasped it, the well-known flow of energy from it flowing through his veins.

"Happy birthday you two, I love you..."

Trish and Lady turned and looked up at the stairs as Nero descended them, running a hand through his hair with a small sigh. With a small smile, he head back into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge. The dream wasn't as bad as the last couple had been, and Nero actually enjoyed it. Something deep down in him though felt a sense of foreboding, as if something was watching him. Looking around the room to reaffirm he was the only person in the kitchen, Nero shook his head and scoffed, before leaving to take a catalog of the remaining Devil Arms.

For the couple weeks following and leading into October, Nero had slept better than he had for the first few weeks, no longer plagued by the strange dreams. With the number of jobs picking up with the season as well, Nero couldn't think of a better time for good sleep. Kids and idiots always accidentally manage to summon stuff, following some age old tradition of stupidity that somehow lived on. Taking Lady on as a temporary partner, Nero began moving stuff out of the guest room to give her space to live. As he began sorting through the number of cardboard boxes, Nero remembered the last dream he had, taking place back when Dante was a child. Most of the boxes were filled with records and the occasional book, some other ones being filled with casual clothes he had never seen Dante wear. Pulling out a Diesel, green jacket, Nero laughed as he tried to imagine Dante wearing something so silly.

Picking up the last box, Nero suddenly lost his grip and it's contents spilled out all over the wooden floor, different photos and papers littering the room. With a curse, he bent down and began picking the various media up. He stopped at a picture that had fallen halfway beneath the bed, gently picking it up to look at it. Blowing the dust off it's face, Nero saw some of the edges had been burnt, the actual film damaged in various places on the obviously old photo. It seemed to be taken the same day of Dante's 8th birthday, Sparda's once magnificent face now replaced by the deep yellow stain of age and fire. Next to him was Eva, and below them, Dante and Vergil. The only way Nero could tell the twins apart was by hairstyle, Vergil's slicked back much like his father's was. Both kids wore their respective amulets, and Vergil held in his hands Nero's Yamato.

After moving the boxes to the otherwise empty attic, Nero took the old family photo and framed it, placing it on the desk next to the picture of all of the hunters. Smiling at his find, Nero turned back and head upstairs to finish prepping the room.

"So let me get this straight, your son was kidnapped by a female demon that looks to be around his age?"

"Yes! No one believes me, but she is the devil himself, I'm sure of it! In the few months they've been together, she has managed to pull him right under his thumb!"

Nero always got people like this, his quiet day of moving old keepsakes however was interrupted quite ungracefully by, most likely, one of the stupidest accounts he had ever heard. The woman was thoroughly convinced that her nineteen year old son had been hypnotized and was being stolen from her by someone who he had been with for almost half a year. It was obviously crap, but it also didn't sound so stupid that it could have been plausible. Nero, nonchalantly and obviously not in the mood to deal with idiots, waved her away and denied her request for an investigation, getting many expletives and insults before she slammed the door closed on her way out. Sighing, he sat up, and fixed the pictures that had fallen over on the desk, before laying back once more and staring up at the spinning fan above.

Nero opened his eyes and immediately found them burning, his skin hot and dry. His mind automatically jumped to his battle with Berial during the Savior incident, the smell of the demonic fire filling his knows. Crouching down to escape the smoke, Nero found himself back inside the Sparda manor, once again a child. The place was a hellish nightmare compared to his last experience within the mansion. Furniture was torn into unidentifiable pieces and strewn about. Pictures carried their own flames, burning the walls of the regal house.

Across the the foyer, Nero could see what looked like Dante stuck underneath a pile of rubble, different feral-like demons tearing away at the flesh of someone with blonde hair. Nero quickly rushed forward, however, in his current state, he couldn't move the large wall of debris blocking his way to them, "Eva! Dante!"

Nero continued to try to move the pieces of thick wood, ash clouding his pale arms and soot blackening his hands as he grunted with effort. If only he was older, or stronger, he knew he could save them. Dante wasn't moving, but Nero could see his eyes were open, watching as his mother was ravaged only a couple feet away. Only motivated even further, Nero continued to try to pry away the wall, only to be grabbed by something from behind and pulled away. No matter how hard he fought, whatever it was overpowered him completely, his actions to escape futile as he moved farther and farther away from Dante. When he was finally dropped, he was surrounded by white, the cold chill of snow biting away at his lightly burnt skin. In front of him he saw the person who had dragged him away, his white shirt torn and bloodied, Luce and Ombra in his hands. Without turning back to Nero, Sparda began to walk back into the inferno of a household, "I'm going back for Dante, your mother is already gone. I have taught you all I need, my son. Go out and became strong, because they will never stop hunting you down. It's up to you to take care of Dante when I'm gone too, he will one day be your best ally."

Nero couldn't move, his body in shock from what just happened more than from the sudden cold that glanced off his skin. As Sparda walked into the glowing smoke of the fire, gunshots ringing out into the roar of the evil flames within. His words rang in Nero's ears as his vision turned black, his body falling limp into the cold ground below.

Nero sat in his usual seat in the ice cream parlor down the street from the shop, the park with Sparda's statue visible in the distance from his window. The rain outside streaked down the window, the occasional burst of lightning revealing the far statue. In front of him, a bowl of chocolate ice-cream sat, almost completely melted. As he watched the rain, he noticed someone stopping at his table, "You wanna talk about it?" Nero glanced upward at the person and sighed gently, "No thanks Patty."

What was there that he could honestly discuss with her? Not only did he not want to drag her into it, but not even he knew how he would ever begin to describe his situation. The Dante he knew had always been cool and cocky, a shit eating smile always plastered on that face of his. However, after living his past, Nero knew there had to be more... It had to be the reason, or at least one of the reasons. He would sometimes be so serious and depressed when drinking. He couldn't even imagine himself living through the same thing.

"Sorry Nero, we're gonna be closing really soon."

"That's alright Freddie, we're heading out anyway, thanks for the ice-cream."

As Nero and Patty walked down the street, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept to himself, his denim hood up over his head to protect himself from the rain, Patty's own hood over her head as well. Suddenly Nero stopped, shivers running through his body and his arm becoming covered in goosebumps, his Bringer glowing it's bright blue as he spoke softly, "demons..."

Patty tried to keep up with Nero as he suddenly rocketed off down the street, screams just floating above the sound of thunder. With his speed and the heavy rain, it took no time at all to lose Nero and stop, stomping the ground in anger as she tried to figure out his destination.

Following his instinct, Nero ran between buildings and through the street until reaching the amusement park by the dock. As he went through the entrance, he had to fight through the mass of people trying to run away. Finally in the park, he could definitely see the demons crawling all over, killing people who pass by with barely any effort. Going for his holster, he drew the magnum he had made to replace Blue Rose, Red Lily, and aimed it forward, constantly changing targets with a growl. He had no clear shot and he wasn't going to risk shooting an innocent. Lucifer or 52 would be good, as they had selective targeting, but Red Lily was useless. Quickly thinking, Nero pushed through to the end of the line of civilians and thrust his Bringer forward, grabbing three of the Scarecrows and raised his fist to slam them into the ground. Before he could, a sharp pain blasted through his Bringer and he dropped the three and cried out. Blue fluorescent blood spilled from the glowing blue sword lodged in his arm. As quick as it appeared, it shattered, sending him spinning backwards to his knees.

Gritting his teeth, the wound healed closed and Nero summoned Yamato, the blade softly glowing in his bringer's grasp. Standing back up, he still couldn't see his attacker. With no other attack against him, Nero went back to the demons, slicing through the air and turning them into confetti. Even with Yamato, it took a good hour or so to clear the entire area, leaving Nero slightly exhausted, his hood now down and his hair wet with rain and sweat. As he turned to leave, another spiritual sword appeared, burying itself in front of him and stopping him.

Pulling Red Lily and spinning around, Nero took aim, eying his aggressor. It was humanoid, male, and he wore a black vest and black jeans, knee high dark boots on over his jeans. Both his vest and jeans looked torn, however not much else was able to be seen in the dark rain. The one thing that managed to catch his eye though, was the shining gauntlets and greaves, which could still be seen through the wall of torrential rain.

"Hey," Nero yelled out at the demon, who just stood there as before, completely still. "You should just give up before-"

As Nero cocked the hammer back, his opponent vanished. Unable to hear any movement over the pure sound of rain around him, Nero was taken by surprise, "FLASH!"

His opponent was suddenly ahead, flipping through the air and cutting through the rain like a saw with Beowulf. Nero only just dodged the attack, trying to counter-attack by slashing a wave of energy at him. His opponent stood up straight, nonchalantly raising his arm and deflecting the attack into a nearby ride as if nudging away a fly.

"Foolishness, you try to control that which you know nothing about. That weapon is just another piece of sharpened steel in your hand and it always will be."

"Like a no good demon like you could do any better!" Nero, letting his temper get the better of him, triggered, his Devil Trigger's ghostly aura appearing above him with it's own Yamato. The burning energy filled his veins, as if his blood was now lead. Grinning, Nero swiftly dashed forward and grabbed the demon with his Bringer and slammed him into the dock. As the bastard bounced back up, Nero rapidly slashed away with Yamato, taking all of his energy and causing his now tired body to de-Trigger. Panting from nearly over-using the thing, Nero stood back p and began to slowly near his attacker.

With a loud crack, Nero found himself flying upward, his jaw shifting out of place. While in the air, Nero felt a large impact on his stomach, smashing him into the wood and actually splintering it, creating a crater. Coughing blood and tensing his back in pain, Nero opened his eyes enough to see his enemy up close, "D-Dante..?"

"So... He's here? Interesting," the demon spoke, grinding the greave further into his gut. Nero knew something was off, he looked just like Dante but... The aura was all wrong. That's when it hit him, "Vergil.."

Stepping off of Nero, the twin turned and picked up the dropped Yamato, flicking his wrist and spinning it before sheathing it into the saya he summoned. He began to grin slowly as he stood back up.

His back to Nero, he thrust the sword into the saya all the way, the sharp bite of the tsuba hitting the saya guard filling the air. Without sudden warning, Nero began to be assaulted by thousands of cuts at once, his body actually somewhat rising from the force before slumping back. The attack even managed to stop the rain, the collected pool splashing over the beaten hunter. Finished, the devil began to walk away into the wall of thick rain, slicking his hair back with a hand, soon gone from sight.

Reaching into his pocket best he could, Nero speed-dialed Patty and finally fell limp, his body finally giving out.

Anthony pulled his hood further over his head, hiding his face even more as he picked up the limp demon hunter. He began to walk out of the amusement park, his hood falling down as he reached the doors. Looking over the entrance, he smiled softly, taking a deep breath. Setting Nero down on the steps, he pulled out his phone and called the office, leaving it next to Nero and ringing as he pulled the hood back up and walked away, the large duffel bag still slung over his shoulder. Hearing a noise behind him, Anthony raised his hand in a mock kind of salute, before turning around the corner and disappearing, the City of Sin hadn't changed too much.


	4. Chapter 4: Cold Shoulder

**AUTHORS NOTE** So, first off, I want to apologize for my procrastination. All the reviews I'm getting are actually amazing as I never thought it would be this positively received! The reviews are truly what motivate to put more chapters out and I honestly promise I will start to do it more; just between house and working two jobs, my free time is limited to the early hours of the morning. Anyway, thank you all for sticking around for me, really, I love the attention and it really does promote me to continue what originally took me half a year to write and if I keep being lazy, will take a year plus to publish! I never thought I would get this far with the reviews I have gotten, I honestly thought I would bomb, so thank you everyone. xD Please share this with your friends and if you know someplace else I should be posting this, please do tell! The more reviews and feedback I get, the better the writing gets. Anywho, I finally got around to using walls as well so HOORAY! Okay, enough of this annoying crap, back to action! **AUTHORS NOTE**

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><p>Nero groaned as he bandaged up his slightly bleeding torso, his bringer glowing weakly. Lady helped him out, bandaging other places he had been cut where it hadn't healed yet, while Patty served everyone tea. Nero waved his hand, excusing himself from it as he preferred coffee. When he was finally bandaged tight, Nero finally spoke and broke the odd tension, "so now we know who stole the Devil Arms. The only thing I don't get are why he took the ones he did. Cerberus, Alastor, and Beowulf, none of them have anything in common."<p>

"Now he also has Yamato though," Lady spoke up.

Nero sighed, he had lost the one sword Dante trusted him to protect, and once again he let it get taken right out of his grasp. "Well there's nothing we can do about it now. Something keeps bothering me though... When I arrived there, there was the devil, but there were also a bunch of Scarecrows attacking the people. Scarecrows aren't native to this Hell Gate region, only Humonculi are. That brings up another question, who is this guy to be left alone by them? If he was out to kill me, then I know he would have in no time flat. Hell, he nearly did... You find anything at the amusement park, Trish?"

"Not much," Trish swiped one of her bangs behind her ear, "The only thing left behind was this sizable dent in the boardwalk. No blood, no demons, just trash and things left behind in a hurry. Honestly looked like just another day after the fair."

Nero cursed and clenched his Bringer, gasping softly in pain at the wound on it. There was nothing left behind to lead him anywhere, and now he was up the creek without a paddle, "dammit..." Nero lay back down, sighing and staring at the ceiling fan once more. He watched it spin round and round... trying to push out all the thoughts that had stricken his mind. His body hurt, and he was tired. Mostly though, Nero was truly afraid. For the second time in his life, since the Savior incident, Nero actually feared his attacker. Lady and Trish knew more than they were saying, so was Vergil really that bad?..

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><p>Nero groaned as his boots became wet and waterlogged in the stream flowing past. As he thought about it, the weirder it became. He was at Devil May Cry, not some river... Opening his eyes, Nero saw a world he had never seen before. The overbearing dark feeling surrounding him striking deep fear deep in his heart. It was no human made place, a different dimension or world the only answer. Without his shirt, the cool air bit at his skin, only making the mostly healed cuts more noticeable to him.<p>

"And to think, we're supposed to be _twins_."

In front of him stood Dante, around the same age as he was in the first dream Nero had. Behind Nero was a waterfall, the bottom of which he couldn't see at his current height. In his hands, Nero held Force edge, the amulet hanging around his neck now out of his shirt.

The large red blur streaking toward him forced Nero to take action and break his thoughts, bringing Force edge up to deflect the stinger. Using his momentum, Nero locked the blades and spun Dante, throwing him toward the edge of the cliff. Quickly thinking, Dante stabbed Rebellion into the ground, stopping him right before he fell over. Switching over to Beowulf, Dante jumped up and made a beeline toward him, his foot outstretched. Following the same tactic of evasion as the previous times, Nero sidestepped using table-hopper and grabbed the leg, throwing Dante into a roll. His patience already thin and his anger building quickly, Nero threw Force Edge at Dante, who rolled under it and, upon standing, drew both guns and began firing away at Nero, most of which Nero dodged by rolling or diving. Ignoring what rounds managed to become buried in his body, he grabbed Dante and held him close in a heavy grapple. As he struggled against the hold, Dante kicked and cursed at Nero. Suddenly, the sound of tearing fabric and flesh rang through the air, a sudden cold pain piercing it's way through Nero's gut, a strange warmth filling the same area soon after. Coughing up blood, Nero began to push Dante away, pulling the large sword out of himself as well slowly.

With enough space, Nero planted his boot against Dante's chest and kicked, sending Nero backwards and rolling into a crouch. Dante staggered, his once blue eyes glowing a deep red as he snarled, the sword forcing itself out of him as he charged his DT, the resulting outburst of demonic energy sending it spinning into the ground before Nero. Standing to his feet, Nero gripped Force Edge once again and tightened it, a demonic aura rising over him as his Bringer began to glow. With a growl, Dante began to walk forward, slowly breaking into a run and progressing into a full-on sprint. Nero followed suite, dragging Force Edge's tip through the water and leaving a trail of air in it's wake. When both blades collided, both demons could feel the power behind the other's attack blow past them. Nero acted first however, quickly turning the blade sideways and streaking past Dante, slicing his torso. Only a blur, Nero continued his onslaught, Table-hopping back and slicing in an "X" formation before jumping back, running forward and slicing upward into a High Time, falling down quickly and hitting Dante a final time. Turning around, Nero scoffed, stabbing the zweihander into the rock underneath, hearing his opponent de-trigger and fall.

Turning back, Nero scooped up the fallen Ebony, pointing it dead at the unmoving hunter's head and pulling back the hammer. Finishing with another flurry of shots into his head before throwing the gun a few feet away and falling to his knees in pain, Nero found himself losing consciousness soon after.

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><p>Nero winced as he sat in the diner's booth and thanked the waitress as she poured his coffee. With a stressful sigh, he sat back against the booth and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with his human hand.<p>

"Mind if I sit with you?"

Nero opened an eye to look over the man who had approached his table. He wore a red button-up shirt with short sleeves opened and over a black t-shirt and dark green camouflage cargo pants. Before Nero could deny the unwanted guest, he sat down anyway, the bangs of his straight blond hair unable to hide the mischievous glint in his eye.

"You look like you've got a lot on your mind."

"You could say that", Nero spoke with an exhale.

"I'm Anthony, called Tony by friends, by the way. What about you?"

"...Nero."

"Ah, not from around here then?"

"No, I was orphan in the town of Fortuna, an island off the coast a fair bit."

"Nice, I was there once on business, quite a conservative community there, isn't it?"

"It was, but a lot has changed in the past ten or so years."

"I can only imagine, with the coat you're wearing." Anthony groaned and slapped his forehead, "no, no, let me rephrase that. The fact you aren't wearing something like a dress shirt or robes supports your claim. So, Nero from Fortuna, what's got ya' all down?"

"Nothing easily explained, really... Just issues with family, I guess." Nero spoke, watching his coffee's steam as he hoped the man bought his fake explanation.

"I totally understand. I had this brother, the best one you could have. He always put up with my garbage and helped me out when I really needed it, even if I didn't want him to. Unfortunately, when our parents split, something happened to him and we've been split since. I've spent something like fifteen years or so trying to figure out what happened to him..."

"Sounds like a friend of mine from a long time ago, except his brother is long gone... What was your brother's name?"

"Gilver; my parents were weird and wanted his name to be unique, so they could settle with having my name be a common one."

Nero smiled somewhat at the sentiment, glancing over at the report on T.V. About the nearing hurricane.

Anthony scoffed, "Hank East... Never liked the guy too much, always seemed to be trying too hard to get the "best scoop."

"I dunno, he's covered wars, y'know? Maybe the thrill is something he is looking for again."

"The thrill, huh?"

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><p>Over the week, the weather gradually became more and more of that you would expect to find in winter. The clouds grew dense, the air became sharp and cold, and windows were starting to ice up. It wasn't until the fifth day that what was once forecasted to be a hurricane was now a severe blizzard. Snow fell in a flurry, making visibility only a few feet or so. Nero sat in the office, enjoying a nice cup of coffee when Patty came in, a bit of snow following behind and falling off her jacket's shoulder's as she removed her hood, "Jeez, can you believe all this crazy weather? It's insane, especially at the start of October."<p>

"It is a bit... odd." Nero spoke thoughtfully, glancing on his bringer. It had been glowing non-stop for the past three days, a small chill hitting the base of his tailbone and never disappearing no matter what he did. "Shall we do some investigation then?" Patty nodded, a look of thrilled excitement on her features; she really hadn't changed too much.

Pulling his denim hood up and over his head, Nero opened the door to Devil May Cry and outside into the white world. His bringer began to glow with more intensity, actually melting what snow landed on it. The howling wind blowing throughout the town sent a slight chill up both his and Patty's spines. As they walked further into town, his bringer pulsed more and more, proving to Nero that the unnatural winter was indeed demonic in origin. Once again, the wind roared past, sounding a bit more guttural and organic than before. Finally clicking, Nero realized it was actual howling, a large three-headed dog standing atop a building, ice crawling down the sides emanating from it's perch.

After making sure Patty was in a safe spot, which in this case was an empty dumpster in a nearby alleyway, Nero pulled a few thorns from Lucifer, hidden under his coat. Thankfully able to just make out the figure of the demon, Nero threw them, watching as they hit it's icy armor and shattered, attracting the large canine's attention.

"Who dares attack the Guardian of Ice?!"

Nero stood in place, silent as any taunt thrown wouldn't have likely been heard. Tossing another thorn which lodged itself a bit higher and into the beast's right forearm, Nero smirked as it shattered and the dog roared in a furious pain. In one bound, the demon landed in front of Nero, it's chilling breath washing over him and making his body tense a bit in reaction.

"That smell... You are indeed like him, the one who had defeated us before. No mere mortal!"

Nero shrugged, "Really? I thought I had cleaned that office out pretty well too. Oh well, it's better than the smell of wet dog and demonic shit, you could use some breath mints."

"You mind your tongue, imperfection!"

Cerberus roared in fury and shot a large block of ice at Nero, prompting him to roll out of the way. Swiftly, he drew and threw a few thorns, two hitting their mark and stabbing the demon's body. Umping over the large demon dog, Nero spun and stabbed a good four or five along it's back. Landing a few feet away, Nero growled and began pulling group after group of thorns from Lucifer and leaving them hovering before him, clapping his hands twice long after he had lost count, the many thorns surrounding Cerberus now.

"Be a good pup," Nero spoke, snapping his fingers and causing all of the thorns to pierce into the large demon before exploding one by one in quick succession, tearing the ice-dog into shreds, "-and play dead."

As what was left of the ravaged demon fell to the ground, it froze over and shattered upon impact, leaving a glowing, light blue and partially frozen over sphere floating. Grabbing it with his bringer, a flash rang out from the sphere and when the light dissipated, his Bringer had changed. The once red-shelled chitin was now a dark navy blue, the flesh underneath now an iridescent white. Grabbing a thorn from Lucifer with the Bringer, the thorn suddenly turned from the foreboding red it once gave off an aura of, to one of a light blue.

"Well, this is certainly new to me."

* * *

><p>Back at DevilMayCry, Nero had been testing his new ability, having found he could toggle between it and his normal bringer at will and that it affected most Devil Arms as well. Deciding to call it "Iceheart", Nero created a file on the new power and put it under the section he had for his Devil Bringer. Looking at the newly colored arm once more, he scoffed in disbelief and clenched his hand open and closed, "After all this time with you, you seriously never cease to drive me crazy, do you?"<p>

The rest of the day had been quite uneventful for Nero following the battle with Cerberus, the weather slowly acclimating back to it's regular climate. Having not been able to go to the store in the snowstorm, Nero was left making himself a bowl of cereal for dinner, that having been interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone, "_The time has come and so have I, I'll laugh last cause you came to die-"_

Not recognizing the number off the top of his head, Nero answered with a slow, "Hello..?"

"Nero, is that you?"

Nero nearly fell when he heard the voice on the other line. The past month had been crazy enough, and now this. His heart raced as he hesitated to answer, "H-hey Kyrie... How are you?"

"Fine, we're pretty much done with all of the repairs necessary, now just minor things like parks and what not are being rebuilt. It hasn't been the same without you for the past couple years."

"You mean it's faster now? You know, because I'm not there to distract and scare all the other volunteers?"

"Nero! You know... That..."

Nero tightened his hold on the bowl of cereal as his anger slowly grew, trying to remain calm and keep his voice clear of contempt.

"Anyway, Nero, we have a bit of a problem here. A couple days ago, the number of demons began increasing from just the occasional straggler to actual groups."

"Why can't the DevilMayCry branch I set up out there handle it? I trained them for that specific reason."

"They have their hands full with what we have. If we don't find the source then the numbers continue to grow, and they can't go on any scouting missions without leaving the towns vulnerable..."

"So you decided to call me in?"

"Well... You and I both know Dante isn't around anymore, and we don't exactly have the money to pay Lady or Trish to take care of it..."

Nero took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind before speaking softly, "I'll do it, to check up on the Fortuna branch, if anything."

"Thank you Nero, really. I have to go, see you soon!"

With that, the phone clicked as the call disconnected. It took every once of willpower not to shoot the phone. It wasn't that Nero hated Kyrie, no, he probably had feelings for her somewhere deep down, as a sister to him. The people in Fortuna were notorious for their one-track minds and outsider complex.

With a final sigh, Nero grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer and lightly reared back as he met something like a rock in the bowl. Looking down, he saw it was completely frozen over, thanks to his new Bringer. Feeling defeated, Nero tossed the frozen milk and cereal into the sink and called up an old friend of Dante's.

* * *

><p>After securing Vendetta, Artemis, Agni, Rudra, Nevan, and Ifrit in his trunk, Nero slipped Lucifer on under his coat. He felt that the IceheartxLucifer combo could come in handy and clearing Fortuna of demon's would make excellent testing opportunities. It would be a hour long drive to the coast, 45 minutes on the ferry, and another twenty minutes to reach the main capital. Hoping two hours would be enough time to mentally ready himself, Nero slipped into the car, started her up, and sped off.<p>

As he drove, he thought back to the Fortuna incident, and how at first everyone thought he was a hero, but then everyone started spreading rumors as not only was he part demon, but the only surviving member of the Order of the Sword. As such, no one trusted him anymore, and it was that contempt and distrust that made him leave in the first place. He had hoped Issac and Zack had fared alright and weren't hassled too much by the people. They were the only thing standing between the demons and townspeople after all.

Finally driving onto the ferry, Nero took the time to get out of his car and stretch best he could without revealing his bringer. The island was a blurred dot on the horizon, the view flashing him back to when he first left Fortuna and met up with Lady to take him to Devil May Cry. Had it really been that long since he had last been there, to his first real home? Deciding to take a small nap, Nero slid back into the car and slowly nodded off to sleep...

* * *

><p>Parking outside the main capital church, Nero killed his engine and hesitated leaving the car. He could always turn back around, head back home, and forget Fortuna ever existed. However, something was calling him here, the same something that made him say yes...<p>

Taking off his coat and Lucifer and stashing them in the back seat, Nero got out of the car and head up the stairs, a bit surprised when no one turned to look at him or stare. They just acted like he was just another person. Another thing he noticed was the attire, while formal, they weren't robes with hoods. They were actual clothes, and the people in the square shopping or walking were dressed as casual as the people in Capulet did. In ten years, quite a bit had apparently changed.

Pulling the door to the church open, he frowned somewhat. The interior design hadn't changed very much, memories flooding back that had been just filed away, not forgotten. As he walked down an aisle, he ran his bringer along the benches, remembering that day exactly. Just another church meeting, until _he_ dropped in. Reaching the main altar, Nero placed the Bringer on it, remembering the shock that ran through his body when the gunshot rang out throughout the church. His split-second unwillingness to move as he watched the glass rain down around the Red-clad assassin. The Sparda statue had been replaced. The figure obviously demonic in some way, but still extremely similar to the dark knight. With a shrug, Nero head left and into the office hallway to find Kyrie, knowing this is where she would most likely be. When he had indeed found her, she was talking to some other people about festival plans in a few weeks. When she noticed, Nero, she excused herself and ran over to him, immediately wrapping her arms around him in a hug, "Nero, it really is you! I almost didn't recognize you without the coat, thank god for that hair of yours."

"Hey there, hard to believe it's been 8 years, isn't it?"

Kyrie nodded, "A lot has changed. When we opened our borders after the recreation period, the island got a bit more up to date. We stopped the whole church ruling and let people have their own free will. Of course... There are people who still value the old ways but they... Well..."

"What's wrong?"

"I'll explain later, anyway, you need to meet the mayor, he has been helping lead the recreation for the past seven years, wouldn't be where we are without him!"

Nero stopped, "Wait, Mayor? For seven years?"

"Oh, right, he came after you had left. Oh! Speak of the devil!" Kyrie said as a man walked up to them. He wore a confident smile, had black hair slicked back by some form of gel, a blue oxford style shirt, with a white tie and white slacks.

"Ah, you must be the Nero I have heard so much about over the last seven years! I'm Gilver, it's nice to meet you finally!"

"Same here, Kyrie was just telling me about you and how much of a help you've been to the island."

"I've only directed it, the people are who have truly made it what it is."

Nero smiled vaguely, the man's blue eyes piercing into his very soul, "I'm surprised you got them out of the rut they were in."

"If not for the Savior incident, I'm not sure I could have, honestly. Anyway, you're here for business and chatting can continue later. Kyrie, I will meet with you later to discuss the program for next Sunday, sound good?"

"Sure, I'll see you later too, right, Nero?"

Nero stood firm a moment before nodding, making Kyrie smile and run back to the people she was originally conversing with. Turning back to the Mayor, they began to walk and talk as he led Nero back into the main part of the church, "So I assume you have a pretty good recollection of the Savior incident, yes?"

"Not exactly something to put on a resume, but yeah, hard not to."

"You have experience with the hell gates then, yes? Specifically the man-made Order of the Sword ones?"

"Yeah, I closed the subsidiary gates whereas my... Uh... _Coworker, _destroyed them in the end. Why do you ask?"

"Recently the demon's numbers have been increasing. We hadn't been able to find out why until a week ago when one of the small villages was destroyed. This is what our DMC branch found there," he spoke as he pulled out his phone, showing Nero pictures of a hell-gate. "We have no way of closing them, and without the resources to do so, we are left asking for outside help. Kyrie had brought you up but didn't think you would show."

"Yet here I am... Once again, must be fate to be stuck here."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, sorry. How many gates are we looking at?"

"We suspect three, but that isn't the main issue. The real issue is what happens if they stay open. The longer they stay and the bigger the rifts get, the more of a chance they have of actually re-activating the main hell-gate in the center of the square here. So I need you to accomplish three things. One: Find and destroy any hell-gates you may come across. Two: Search for any clues as to their opening or creation. Three: Look out for any survivors if you can, however, I don't expect there to be many... I will be willing to pay whatever price you name, as long as you get the task done and save these people."

"Think of this as a charity, for the people. I will need to check in with my guys here first, if that's OK. Then I will head out as soon as I can."

"Thank you so much Nero, you have no idea how much this will benefit us."

"No problem, Mr..."

"Gilver."

"Gilver? Funny, I met your brother not too long ago... Small world, eh?"

Gilver's smile wavered some, "Yes, I guess so. I'm glad he hasn't forgotten about me. When you head back, you should direct him this way."

"First things first, right?"

"Of course. Now please excuse me, I have things I must attend to."

As Gilver walked back into the church, Nero looked down the avenue the Fortuna branch of DevilMayCry was located on. Settling for walking, Nero locked his car, took one last look at the sliced hell-gate towering above, and began to walk down the street, hoping the two knuckleheads in charge hadn't burnt the place down in the last eight years.


	5. Chapter 5: Fortuna Nights

Upon opening the door, Nero was indeed surprised to find the place was in such good condition. Two desks sat in the foyer, One of which occupied by a man in a white coat, boots on the desk and chair leaning back as he snored in a deep sleep. The Fortuna branch was set up much like the home office was during the Mallet Island case. It served as just an office, the hunters there having their own homes and families. Walking to the jukebox in the far right corner, Nero clicked through the selections, musing to himself over the selection. It was similar to his own, with a few artists he hadn't heard of here and there. Rubbing his chin with his bringer, he finally settled on an unknown one to him, the name of the song similar to one he thought he knew. He slowly backed away from it, knowing how much louder this one was compared to his own, something about being modern.

_Now you've really crossed the line! Your hate for me is divine. My love yearns your suffer; On the grave, lurks my prosper!_

Chris shouted out in surprise, arms and legs flailing as the chair leaned further back and toppled over with a loud crash. Trying to gain his bearings, he rolled over, getting caught a bit in the coat before finally standing and drawing his gun/sword: Redemption. Finally able to assess the situation and seeing Nero, Chris scoffed and sheathed the sword, walking to Nero.

"So, you finally decided to come back, huh? Only took about a decade!"

"Sorry, but someone has to do the cleaning in the city of sin. How's everything with Rose?"

"She's good, got a second child on the way soon."

"That's great!"

"Yeah..." Chris broke off with a sigh. After a second, his smile changed to one of a neutral expression, "I assume you're here on business then?"

Nero nodded, watching as Chris fixed the chair and sat back down, "Yeah... Sorry."

Chris smirked some, "It's fine, really. Truth be told, I never thought you would return at all. So this is as good as anything. You here about the gates?"

"Mostly to make sure you guys hadn't destroyed the place, really. It looks good."

"Yeah, with Bryant out there training people to act as security, there isn't much hassle in here."

"Training people?"

"Yeah, just we two weren't enough when the attacks escalated. So we instituted a training program for whoever wanted to join and had the dedication to follow through."

"Not bad... I'm glad I left you guys in charge then. You may be screw ups, but you couldn't have impressed me more."

Chris smiled, "Thanks... It's nice hearing you say that, of all people. Anyway, not much to inform you on. When the mayor came in, a lot of people still faithful to the order's beliefs broke off, and became independent. They left the main city and branched out to the surrounding areas, the jungle, Fortuna castle, and they revamped the old burned down mining town past the castle. All in all, they actual did good, trade was good between us and them, and we supported each other even through difference of belief. Until the demons started attacking. It turns out, they had been secretly reconstructing hell gates, going off of notes they found at Fortuna castle, and now we all are paying the price for it."

"Some people, huh?"

"The thing is, the longer those gates stay active, the more the rift spreads. The bigger that gets, the more of a chance what is left of the main gate could in fact re-open."

"Then it's the savior incident all over again..."

"Except this time, who knows what could come through?"

Nero sighed and ran his bringer through his hair. The same three locations as the last gates? No problem, really.

"Alright, you guys continue doing what you're doing, I'm going after the gates."

As Nero turned to leave, Chris jumped up, "Wait, Nero! You forgot this when you left!"

Chris reached under the table, shuffling a bit before pulling up a black case. A blue rose decal adorned the top part of it. Upon seeing it, Nero knew immediately what it was, he had left it behind to signify moving on. If there was any time to need it back, now would definitely be it.

Opening the case, Nero picked up the three-barreled magnum and inspected it. The wood was still firm, the barrel still shining with it's carving of the blue rose insignia he had come to adopt. It had a dual trigger, for firing the top two barrels and the bottom one separately. The chamber below allowing for a slightly bigger caliber. It retained the original design of boring through a demon's rough exterior then causing as much damage as possible to the underneath. The Blue Rose definitely felt like an extension of himself, bringing back memories of the first.

"Thanks..."

"Call it a welcome home present. Now then, go do us all a favor and end all that savior bullshit once and for all!"

Nero gripped Blue Rose, spinning it a couple times before sliding it into the brown leather holster on his thigh, grinning as he almost felt whole again, "Don't have to ask me twice."

Having grabbed his Coat and Lucifer, Nero set out toward the old mining town past the industrial district. The place was bustling and busy, unlike before. People moved goods up and down the street, other people yelling and transporting goods between ships. Taking the old shortcut through the harbor, Nero weaved past sailor men transporting different commodities and fish, crossing the old shipping bridge and heading toward the mine. He needed to stop being so surprised, as the mine had been converted into a transporting area. A blood seal blocked the way further in, probably a defense set up by one of the other hunters in an attempt to keep the demons away. Nero paid it no mind, walking through it with a slight shudder and continuing down the now paved walk.

* * *

><p>The town was empty, however no more inviting than the wooden ghost town he remembered it as. Dead neon signs hung, a bar's sign still idly humming and blinking. The place was deserted, however sings of struggle were obvious. Walking into the bar, Nero wasn't surprised to find it ransacked, scratch marks all over the wooden tables and bar. Words like <em>liar<em> and _Behind fake eyes lies a devil_, were painted on the walls. The bottles on the wall behind the counter were mostly intact, making Nero smile as he suddenly whipped out his magnum and fired shot after shot, each bullet hitting it's mark and sending glass and booze flying.

Reaching into his pocket, Nero tossed a speed-loader into the air, quickly sliding the chambers out of the side and emptying them, moving the gun to let the new ones slide in. In a single motion, Nero smacked the chambers back in and removed the speed-loader's plastic, having down most of it all in under twenty seconds.

He panted softly in excitement, he missed doing that sort of thing. His actions didn't go unnoticed however, as a growl erupted from outside. Nero had to duck down as the top half of building suddenly flew off, revealing a large reptile-like demon, almost 3 times his size. It roared loudly to the sky, allowing Nero to exit onto the main street where he had more room to move. As it sighted Nero and began to close in, Nero shot at it. The hard chitin wasn't even scratched as the bullets ricocheted off it's hide. Throwing Lucifer's thorns did much of the same, shattering upon impact. Having run out of all available options, Nero began to look for something he could use, the demon too big for him to use his bringer on without being weakened prior. Suddenly, a angelic-like demon slammed into the thing, kicking it back a few feet. Turning to Nero, it nodded and dropped a large case down in front of Nero, a note on it he could just barely read as _Sorry, forgot to mention this guy. Have a missile as an apology- Chris_

Quickly opening the thing, and hoisting the heavy cylinder onto his shoulder. Without aiming, Nero shot it, the missile connecting with the beast's torso and exploding, revealing soft flesh underneath. Taking out Blue Rose once more, Nero switched to his Ice-heart and fired, the first two bullets hitting and shattering, creating a group of open wounds, while the third dug itself into the large demon and caused to roar in even more pain. After a couple more pulls of the trigger, Nero stopped, watching as the monster slowly froze up. Running toward it to gain momentum, Nero yelled out as he ran up the creature's hard shell and jumped above it, rearing back his Bringer and slamming it down onto the demon's head, causing the large sculpture to crack and finally shatter under his fist.

Falling to his feet, Nero shook his bringer, "The bigger they are..."

In front of him was the hell gate, a dark foreboding aura increasing as he walked toward it. It was about as large as the creature, smaller than the original one most likely to be easier to hide. Nero thrust his Bringer forward, snatching the large obelisk, and yanked it, making it fall down before him and shatter into pieces, all of which dissipated into energy which blew away with the flowing wind. He smiled and headed into the direction of Fortuna castle, "One down, two to go."

Because the hell gate had been closed, the snow Nero once remembered was now all gone, revealing the earthy stone of the castle's exterior. Once inside, Nero couldn't help but laugh to himself, seeing the chandelier replaced and the picture of the Sanctus now gone as well. His remodel wasn't exactly the most professional but it obviously got rid of that ugly painting.

The candles and gas lamps were still around, filling the room with the archaic aesthetic a castle would be expected to have. Tables and chairs adorned the entrance hall, the lingering aura of demons not like it was during the Savior incident. Following his assumption, Nero headed out to the center of the castle, frowning when he looked out a window into the now green and luscious garden to see no gate of any kind. With a curse, he kicked the wall, leaning against it afterword to think.

"Let's see... If I was going to make a gateway, where would I build it..?"

Returning to the entrance hall, Nero head to where the picture of Sanctus once sat. Knocking against the wall with his bringer, Nero hummed softly. Running toward the ledge, Nero jumped up, just barely grabbing the chandelier and causing it to sway. With a grunt of effort, he climbed up on to of it and sighed. Clapping his hands, Alastor appeared in his right hand, lightning slightly streaking up the blade. With a blur of speed, Nero cut the support cable, sending the thing flying forward and into the wall once more, revealing the all too familiar hallway into the secret angel lab. With a grin, he placed the sword against his back and jumped off the wreckage, walking down into the underground castle.

Just as he had expected, the gate stood where he first acquired Yamato, the residual energy most likely used to activate and power the thing. With a solid slice of Alastor, the gate became two pieces, and with a few more, nearly unseen movements, those two became forty. Like the last gate, the pieces disappeared, rendered incorporeal without a physical tie to the human world. This was going by way too easily, and Nero couldn't help but shake the fact that something was up. Chris or Bryant could have done this easily, and the influx of demons didn't seem great at all. So why was he called here for something even Kyrie could've possibly done?

Shaking the doubt out of his head, Nero head back the way he came to head toward the forest. Luckily, the waterfall had long either dried up or just been rerouted, the bridge across extended and the way clear for Nero. He was indeed surprised that the forest retained some of the qualities and climate the hell gate had created. In the blanket of tree tops below the cliff, however, there sat a clearing with buildings within. Even from this distance, and at this time of night, Nero could see the black stone-like structure at the edge of said clearing, as if a monument for worship with two torches lit on each side.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped over the edge, the rush of air pushing his coat up and causing his heart to race madly. Halfway down, Nero gripped the wall tight with his bringer, clawing away at the rock face and slowing his descent before jumping off a couple feet above the ground, and rolling into a crouch. Standing up, Nero looked at the mark of his entrance and chuckled, continuing into the dark and wet brush.

Following the distant orange light of a burning fire, Nero pushed through the large fans of leaves before reaching the clearing, slapping his neck for the twelfth time because of some bug biting him. The village was a bit more primitive, log cabins and fire pits. The fire danced in it's battle against the slowly falling rain that Nero could now feel. The smell of death was strong, old and dried blood painting the ground in various places as he slowly walked through the village. However, for as much blood as he could find, there wasn't a single body for Nero to see. His bringer was glowing too, solidifying the feeling he had of being watched by someone or something. Outside of the clearing, the darkness of the night mixed with the thickness of the trees made seeing that far nearly invisible.

Up close to the gate now, Nero could examine it and the markings on it. Upon inspection, he realized the markings were deep scratches and cuts. It hadn't been opened in a long while, the aura of the demon world not as foreboding as the other two gates. This told him someone had been here before him, and, come to think of it, the other two were also closed themselves... Someone had been through before him, but left the demons behind...

Wasting no more time, Nero punched the gate with the bringer, causing multiple cracks to climb the large monolith before blowing, sending it all crashing down in front of him, the shock wave of dust blowing out the fire in the center of the village. It was then that Nero felt even more paranoid than before, his bringer now glowing brightly. He tried to listen, the only thing audible being the wind, rain, and far-off birds. Turning around to head back, Nero heard something snap to his left, quickly whipping out a thorn and stabbing the creature that jumped at him and throwing it to the ground, the thorn exploding and tearing the demon in half.

It was canine in nature, fur and all, much like that you would see on a werewolf. It stood a good two feet taller than Nero's 6'3, and probably weighed twice as much. Looking around him, six pairs of glowing red eyes made themselves known and surrounding him, all waiting to strike.

"Hey, a whole six pack! Must be my lucky day!" Nero joked, launching a thorn toward the wolf in front of him, missing and tossing more just to have it dodge those as well. It was fast, almost too fast as Nero constantly tried to pin it.

Close enough and seeing an opening, the demon jumped at Nero, claws outstretched and teeth bared, thirsting for blood. It could smell the incomplete being's fear, already taste the sweet blood of his prey.

Nero smiled and clapped his hands together nonchalantly, unblinking and unmoving, as all of the thorns he threw materialized around him and circled around him like a barrier. The anthropomorphic wolf realized too late that he had been outsmarted and impaled himself onto multiple different spikes, whining in pain as blood drenched it's fur.

Grinning darkly, Nero snapped his fingers and watched as it was blown to pieces by the different thorns. What was left was thrown back from Nero, bloodied and nearly unidentifiable. Quickly using his ice thorns, Nero froze the remaining and fleeing five wolves around him, all of the statues reflecting the faint moonlight.

Switching to his normal bringer, Nero gently tapped one, falling to the side and hitting another, causing a domino effect as all of the iced-demons fell, shattering upon impact with the floor, "Sorry, I prefer my drinks _cold_."

Turning back North to Fortuna castle, Nero yawned softly. Looking at his phone, he was surprised to see it was only one in the morning. With another yawn, Nero continued on his way. He would probably spend the night in the master bedroom past the graveyard.

* * *

><p>Settling in a chair in front of the fireplace, Nero sighed. He wore his black shirt and jeans, drinking a glass of some scotch he had found hidden away in a cupboard. His coat rested on one of the bedposts, his weapons on the opposite chair. Just before he found himself dozing off, his phone rang, making him sit up and stretch before answering, "Hello?"<p>

"It's me, kid."

"Hey Morrison, how goes the hunt?"

"Took a hell of a lot to scrounge up without a last name, but I took all the weird coincidences and got what I think sounds like your guy."

"Alright, let's hear it."

"Anthony, the earliest I can see, goes to being a kid in a town a day's train ride away from the city. He and his mother had moved there and in a month had been accepted by the people of the small town. Later that year though, a large fire broke out, killing many, and injuring more. The people saw it as their fault and shunned them, causing them to disappear. Get this, when I was working as Dante's broker, I had a man come up to me looking for someone with snow white hair and an affinity for a certain color. There was no actual job, but the man wanted Dante to go with him so he could clear his name, constantly referring to Dante as _Anthony_, thinking he was playing around. For some reason never shared with me, Dante left with the man, and it turned out the man planned on summoning a guardian-class demon from the gate North of the town and kill it, proving Anthony and his mother were innocent. Dante failed to stop the guy, however, he had stopped the demon. Upon hearing the demon call him by name, the man began to blame Dante for what happened."

"Jeez, that's harsh."

"No kidding. From what I could find out, Enzo used to be a middleman for someone named Anthony, a mercenary who ate certain desserts and was always notable by his red coat and medallions. Around that time he got another mercenary, named Gilver he middled for. Both were top gun, and usually got partnered together. Until Gilver took top, he was ruthless and always killed who he was contracted to, whereas Anthony usually skipped out. Then something happened, and both of them disappeared. Past that, Enzo didn't give me much else, saying he moved towns and found Dante who he brokered then. There are some records for an Anthony Redgrave at this one gun store, but after the place burned down, most if not all evidence was lost in the fire."

"Redgrave, hmm..."

"Sound familiar?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. Find anything else on Gilver?"

"Well, after disappearing with Anthony, he appears much later as a bureaucrat, moving up in the business world before disappearing again for a very long time. He just happened to reappear a couple years back and became the mayor of Fortuna, the tourist's paradise."

"Is that what it is now?"

"Yeah, anyway, Gilver has a lot less on him, yet he is pretty suspicious... If it weren't for the incident with that town and Dante, I wouldn't have called it a coincidence, as they look like two different people from these articles..."

"Ok, thanks Morrison. Lemme know if you get more."

"Yeah, how is Fortuna by the way?"

"Just as weird as I left it... On second though, I'll see you when I get back. I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah."

With that, Nero hung up and put his fist under his chin, resting his arm on the chair's arm. Anthony and Gilver... Was there really any connection?

Soon, the darkness of sleep took over Nero, and the thoughts were lost among dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Homecoming red and blues

Nero made it back to the capital by late afternoon, he exhaled softly, cautious. The harbor had been empty, as had been the market and industrial districts when he walked through them. Even the main square was quiet and empty, save a few pieces of rolling garbage. Nero nearly assumed the worst when the church bells filled the square with their noise. With a semi-relaxed sigh, Nero walked up to the church doors, keeping his and Morrison's conversation in mind, and slowly opened them, suddenly feeling sick.

He hated church services, he hated the music, the preaching, all of it. The only good things he could think of were the things he would rather do. The first thing he noticed was Kyrie in the front row. The second thing was who was speaking, wearing a long blue coat. Nero had entered just in time it seemed, the song ending and everyone getting up to leave and go about their day. Moving through the crowd, Nero made his way to the front of the pews, meeting up with Gilver, "Ah, so you've returned! Oops, sorry, still in my orator mindset!"

"That's ok, good service?"

"They all are, the people here believe in themselves more than anything else, it's what helped the building go faster. Amazing what the human will can achieve. Come, walk with me."

Nero followed Gilver, walking by his side as Kyrie stayed to clean up the church, heading outside as Gilver spoke, "Your timing couldn't have been better, especially with what tonight is."

"What do you mean?"

"The equinox, when the gate can be truly closed."

"But... the gate here is sealed, right?"

"Nero, boy, to truly close a door that is ajar, you must open it first to truly close and lock it. Well, if I wanted to lock it, that is."

Nero stopped, "What?!"

Gilver smiled darkly, the sunlight slowly being blocked by the moon's shadow traveling up the split gate. "I plan to open the main hell gate, do I have to spell these all out?"

"But, I closed the sub gates!"

"Yes, and I must thank you. With them drawing so much power, I would have never reopened this one in it's state."

"How do you plan to open it?"

"You do still have the dark blade, Yamato, yes?"

Nero was taken aback, he stuttered softly before his bringer suddenly began to glow and he tightened his fists. His stance faltered when Gilver suddenly held his hand out and Yamato appeared, saya and all, "Oh, no, I guess that's me, isn't it?"

Nero readied Lucifer as he watched Gilver, his heartbeat racing in his ears. The gears in his head finally turning. He mentally hated himself for being so stupid, growling and tightening his grip on the thorn. Gilver's voice changed to one of solemn and serious hate. Thunder crashed as rain began to hammer the square, drenching the two as the weather reacted to the hell gate. Lightning flashed, almost as fast as Gilver as he slashed upward at Nero. In response, Nero threw a few thorns, each clashing with spiritual swords and shattering.

"You have no idea who you face, child. You are out of your league."

Before Gilver could continue, a red blur streaked into him, pushing him back a few feet. Standing once more, Gilver ran his gloved hand through his hair, slicking it back as the black washed from his hair, revealing it's true white color. He growled, speaking with a snarl, "Dante..."

Nero looked over at Gilver's attacker, unable to move due to shock. There, in black jeans, a vest, and a red and black coat with buckles stood someone who Nero recently referred to as Anthony. He stood there, pointing both of his iconic pistols at Gilver, arms outstretched and crossing, "Sorry I'm late, I had to break open your trunk too, sorry."

Gilver growled once more, "Dante, why is it you are always where I don't require you?"

"Oh Vergil, you know me. I can't help but bother my big brother."

Nero stood in complete shock at the two brothers standing face to face in the rain. Before he could do anything else, a scream from the church caused Nero to turn with a face of true fear, "Kyrie!" Having to leave the brother's, Nero ran in the direction of the scream, leaving them alone.

Dante laughed under his breath, "You know what? I missed this."

"Losing to someone superior than yourself?"

Dante grinned, tightening his grip, "The rain."

* * *

><p>Nero, using his bringer, bust down the church doors. On instinct alone, Nero streaked between Kyrie and the demon, slashing it in half with Alastor. The two other Frosts that were advancing were easy to take care of, the inhuman speed Alastor allowed him helping to make short work of the icy demons. Kyrie watched, not having seen him like this since that incident where his arm first changed. She watched him cleave through the moving demons, not able to do much more in her position. The skill and grace Nero moved with made her gasp in awe, unable to compare the elegance to anything.<p>

* * *

><p>Dante holstered Ebony and Ivory and whipped Nevan around and into his hands, turning the volume noise all the way up. Vergil tightened his grip on Yamato, removing his tie and tossing it away, smiling cockily, "You are obviously much more disciplined since last we crossed, yet you still bring an instrument to a sword fight."<p>

"What's wrong? Not losing faith in your butter knife, are you?"

Vergil scoffed, and dashed past Dante, bubbles of sword slashes staying in his wake for mere seconds. Dante, just as quick, jumped up and used trickster to push himself over them, strumming out what quick chords he could remember from years ago, launching a large group of bats toward his brother. Vergil hadn't gotten rusty, or if he had, he wasn't showing it. A simple judgment cut capturing the bats, easily tore them to shreds, falling to the ground like confetti.

Swinging Nevan back behind him, Dante crouched and slammed his fist into the wet, muddy ground, a fiery aura expanding from him as Ifrit appeared on his arms. Vergil smirked, tying Yamato to his coat before getting in a stance of his own and summoning Beowulf. Dante remembered always wanting to compare the two head-on and wished he also had Gilgamesh, but this wasn't for pleasure. Wings of light softly unfurled from Vergil's back, fire spreading from behind Dante and doing much of the same, looking more demonic than Vergil's angelic like ones.

Dante grinned, "I'll enjoy this."

Vergil held his hand out, motioning for him, "Come on!"

* * *

><p>Nero yelled out as he used his bringer to smash a Frost into an Assault, impaling it upon the Frost's spiky body. Finally alone with Kyrie, Nero's bringer stopped glowing, signaling they were indeed without any nearby demons. Dropping Alastor, Nero rushed over to Kyrie and hugged her close. It was the first real contact they had in the past eight years. It made so many memories flood back as he held her close.<p>

"I... I'm sorry I left... I didn't mean to run... I'm sorry."

Before anymore could be said, a large clash of metal rang from outside, causing Nero to look to the doors, "It's always something... Guess that kiss has to wait, again."

Kyrie nodded, blushing softly, "Do what you have to, I'll help Bryant and Chris help people evacuate the main square."

* * *

><p>Dante and Vergil were two halves of the same coin. Both countered each others attacks with almost exact precision and the same moves. Fist to fist, boot to boot, it always continued as a futile and never ending exchange. With every clash, sparks of light and flares of fire flew as both Devil Arms were being pushed to their limits. With every attack, both would flash in and out of their Devil Trigger on every impact.<p>

Neither showed any signs of slowing or stopping as they continued fighting in front of the hell gate. Before the two could continue further, a shard of ice forced it's way into the ground, separating the two, freezing the little bits of water around it.

Dante was the first to react, "Stay out of this kid! It isn't your battle!"

"Listen to me! This will only go on forever."

Vergil readied himself, "I've got time."

Nero opened his mouth to argue, stopping when the ground below them began to shake violently. Dante turned back to Vergil, "What were you doing?!"

"This hell gate is special, connected to a point in the underworld only on this specific equinox every fifty years... The being behind this gate would solidify my place as Sparda's true successor."

"_**Sparda!**_**"**

Dante felt it first, the large influx of demonic power from the slowly opening gate. He knew the heavy aura too well, feeling as though it was weighing him into the ground. It made him sick in the deepest pits of his stomach, "Vergil... No... NO, NO, NO, DAMN YOU!"

From the open gate, a large beam of energy launching outward and into the moon. The large statuesque demon following behind it forcing itself out of the gate. Nero, having never experienced this sort of thing, found himself falling to his knees, filled with true absolute fear.

"_**I AM MUNDUS! I AM FREE ONCE MORE TO CLAIM TO WORLD KEPT FROM ME BY THE CURSED SPARDA BLOODLINE!"**_

Without any warning, the demon suddenly vanished in a flash of red light, the sky still raining bullets as the gate crumbled into nothing. When Nero could finally move, he ran over to the brothers who also stared at the broken gate, "What the hell was that?!"

Dante didn't move, eyes locked on the permanently shut gate, "Mundus..."

Vergil made sure the gate was surely closed by slashing the last few pieces another few times, "The prince of darkness. He was the one our father, Sparda, sealed away from the demon world 2 Millenia ago."

Nero looked back over to Dante, whose head was now hung low, water dripping from his bangs.

"Dante..?"

Dante immediately ran at Vergil, slugging him hard enough for bone to crack audibly, "You bastard! What the hell were you thinking? You couldn't even defeat him once! I only managed to seal him away and now you pull this!"

"This was all planned. Every part of it, and all of us have a part to play. You can either keep yelling, or you can silence yourself and we can work together to finish what Father couldn't. I promise everything will be explained in the end, Dante."

Dante growled, tightening his fist and rearing back to punch Vergil again before dropping it with a sigh, picking Rebellion out of the ground and placing it on his back, "How can I trust you?!"

"Every action I have ever taken since our mother's death, has led to this goal. Every action. There are things I would have done differently, however it all will lead to the same end. If I were lying, would I not have taken that hit of yours?"

Dante couldn't argue; if Vergil didn't feel as though he had deserved it, he would have dodged the punch like nothing. With a solemn sigh, Dante placed a hand on Vergil's shoulder, "Angry sentiment or not, I'm glad to see you aren't dead..."

"Likewise... _Brother._"

Nero watched as the two walked to his car, "What about Mundus?!"

"Nothing we can do about him kid. At this point, we wait for him to bind to his physical form, that way we can follow him into the demon realm after defeating his corporeal form. So we wait for him to show himself."

"Searching would just be useless at this point. Dante is correct."

With a shrug, Nero ran back to the church to check on Kyrie. Seeing she was ok, he decided to take her along with them. With a quick kiss between the two, they headed out to meet the others and they all piled into the car.

Dante was the first to speak while they rode on the ferry, his stomach growling, "Hey kid... Can we stop for some pizza? I think they may have forgotten my tab by now!"

* * *

><p>Trish and Lady sat around Devil May Cry, waiting for heads or tails of Nero. He had been gone for 3 days so far, worrying both female hunters. With the sudden change in weather as well, both knew something was wrong in the world. Both quickly looked up at the door as it opened, Nero walking in dripping wet as he removed his coat and hung it.<p>

"Nero! Where have you..."

Trish droned off as Dante walked right in behind him, setting the pizza boxes down before sliding his coat off and tossing it onto the rack, quickly taking a box for himself and plopping down on the couch Trish was on. Both Lady and Trish were stunned, watching as Dante moaned softly on his first bite, four pieces suddenly disappearing into his gullet.

"D-Dante?!"

"Hmm? Hey girls! Did ya miss me?"

Without hesitation, both began to hound him on everything he had missed, Nero paying his debts, all without taking a breath, impressing both Nero and Vergil, once he entered after Kyrie. Trying to escape, Nero grabbed his pizza and head upstairs to change into unworn clothes, both chasing after. Taking off his coat, Vergil laughed, "Glad to see things haven't changed much."

"Hmm?" Kyrie hummed in surprise.

"When we were kids, we lived a bit far from other people. There was this family over the hill from us, and they had a daughter our age. Dante would always hound her, trying to get a kiss from her every time they hung out. She hated him for it and always used to slap him, but never said no in the end."

Nero chuckled, "Sounds like Dante all right. Sorry to ask, but why so light-hear ted? I pictured you more as an..."

"Asshole? Only sometimes."

Sighing, Nero sat down and helped himself to some pizza, feeling himself nearly sink into the couch. He didn't know how to react to the day's events, and frankly, he was too tired to at the moment. Having decided Dante could have the guest room, Vergil could take the couch, and Kyrie could sleep with him, Nero head upstairs to his room and let himself fall on the bed. Ten years... And just like usual Dante fashion, he forced himself right back in, hearing the two girls downstairs talk about all his new scars and nitpick about his carelessness causing them. The office finally felt like the true DevilMayCry he remembered... Finally.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Nero woke up, stretching and getting out of bed, working to not wake up Kyrie as he changed into his usual Black shirt and jeans and head downstairs. The day before almost seemed like a dream, a very distant one that he couldn't believe until he looked down into the foyer. Dante sat there at the desk, leftover pizza in hand and tapping his foot in time with the jukebox, Vergil having helped Dante go through the guest room's boxes and now reading a few books he had found on the couch. Nero sighed and head down and stood next to the desk. Dante looked up and smiled, In a black tee as well, yet, in black leather pants instead of jeans, "Jeez, how awkward. Now you have to go change, Nero."<p>

"You're in my chair."

Dante leaned back a bit, placing his boots on the desk. With a hum, he stood up and allowed Nero to sit, instead sitting on a stool by the bar, "You're right, my chair had less balance. So then... How are you?"

Nero took a deep breath, Vergil looking over his book to watch, "I... don't exactly know yet. I guess I'm still shocked you're still alive. I mean, after ten years..."

"It's really been ten years?"

"Yeah... A bit has changed. Office, obviously clean," Vergil laughed softly at that, "debts, paid, life, pretty much okay. I took over when you left."

"So I gathered. When did you find out?"

"Trish learned from Lucia and Lady relayed it to me, offered me a ride here to take care of everything in your place so I took the two guys I was training and left them in charge of the Fortuna DMC."

"What about everyone else?"

"Patty has been training under Lady, she's pretty good at what she does. Lucia turned her village into a spa resort after Matier died... Morrison is still in the game, and Enzo stops by every so often. The pizza place has been booming, and Love Planet was shut down and is now just a bar."

Dante nodded, taking it all in. Looking at Rebellion, all covered in different wear and tear marks, it's steel chipped a tad in some super minor places, it had been used quite a bit. Vergil took the silence to speak, "Where did you get Yamato?"

"An incident over in Fortuna, found it being researched however it was broken into two halves. I somehow fixed it when I first triggered... Don't ask me how."

"I see. Not too bad a shape, could be better."

Nero hummed in response and the room fell into silence once more. This continued for a good half hour before Patty bust through the doors, immediately eyeing Dante and hugging him, tears falling from her eyes.

"Oh my god! It is you! You came back! You didn't die! Nero and I knew you would come back!"

"Whoa, chill kid! It's only been ten years... A fine ten years, actually."

Patty blushed before smacking him, "You pervert! To think we waited for you and that's all you have to say? Nero was worried sick about you! Always hoping for you to return from the underworld!"

"Really now? Worried? Why so?"

Nero stuttered, "I... Uh, I mean."

"I'm only teasing, calm down. Seriously though, I guess I owe you an apology, and an explanation."

"Yeah, an explanation would suffice though, knowing you aren't one for apologizing."

Dante took a deep breath, reaching over the bar to grab a bottle of vodka, earning a condescending look from Vergil which Dante smiled at, remembering their time as mercenaries. Opening the bottle and pouring himself a drink, Dante looked into the alcoholic liquid. With another breath he began.

"It starts with when I went into the demon world to destroy Argosax... I had no way back after the portal closed so I had no choice but to go deeper into hell, hoping to not only find a way out, but to find out if Vergil there was truly dead. So for ten years, I fought for my life against ring after ring of demons. Some I had banished from the human world already, others knew me because of my legacy... In the end, I had found a rift, a small one, that I could escape through. It took months to build the strength necessary, but when I had it, I managed to break through. Ended up in the middle of the desert somewhere, walked until I found civilization and then hiked my way here. I decided to take on an old persona of mine to scope out what all had changed, especially you."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!"

"I couldn't... I was gone for ten years, I couldn't just barge in unannoucned like nothing happened. No, I waited for when I needed to come in. Yesterday's events just provided the perfect timing. Sorry again about your trunk."

Nero looked up at the ceiling fan, slowly spinning. Ten years, and the story isn't even too special... He laughed a small bit, "I should have known it wasn't anything special, just another job, huh?"

"Pretty much kid... Happy being back though."

"Yeah, me too..."

With that, Nero entered the kitchen to grab himself some coffee. Using this time, Vergil himself spoke, vaguely skimming through his book, "He is... Interesting"

"Tell me about it."

"He carries our blood, does he not?"

"So you feel it too then? You know who he is right?"

"More than you would believe."

Dante frowned some, "I know more than you think Verg', like who his father is."

Before Vergil could retort, Nero returned, drinking his coffee, "So... Back to the good old days, huh?"

"Looks like it." Dante replied, getting up and selecting a song on the jukebox.

_Bring the fable from thy tomb, sporadic doom as knights loom. Does clergy support this action? Pure wrath of the winged assassin..._


End file.
